


I'll Bring My Headphones

by A_Dying_Wolf_Dying_With_Dignity



Series: Us Against It All (Plangst Week) [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-28 23:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11428263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Dying_Wolf_Dying_With_Dignity/pseuds/A_Dying_Wolf_Dying_With_Dignity
Summary: Day Two of Plangst Week: Home/FamilyAs Lance and Pidge think about the homes they've left behind on Earth, Pidge realizes that Lance needs to rely on the home he finds in her in order to cope with his homesickness.





	I'll Bring My Headphones

"If you could have one thing you left behind on Earth to have now, what would you take?"

"... My family's guitar."

It took some thinking to choose any one item Lance had back home. His original answer was of course going to be his family because in his defense, Pidge's question was for any "thing", singular, and a family is technically a singular "thing". After looking at her expectant gaze, however, he settled for the next best "thing" he could think of.

The guitar he spoke of was an heirloom passed on from his great grandfather. Anyone in the family who's ever played it is required to sign their name anywhere on the wood, and so far there's an estimate of three dozen signatures from three generations' worth of his family, including his own father and siblings. Sure, his own name was there with the others', but he cared more about the ones surrounding his.

According to his mother, whoever the next owner of the guitar is will be fueled by the spirits of every McClain before them. It was just his luck that his adventures as the Blue Paladin of Voltron began a couple months before he would've been allowed to go on break from the Garrison and return home for his seventeenth birthday. He wouldn't mind if he had that guitar now, so he'd know he had numerous McClain's giving him the energy to continue being a hero.

He's already told Pidge about the guitar's significance before, so he didn't need to explain it twice as they resided in his room. She had him answer that question because he knew his mind's been plagued with thoughts of home ever since they arrived on Arus, and even after the castle ship departed for its mission to defeat Zarkon, she's noticed the longing, distant look in his eyes whenever he stared out a window at the open space. This wouldn't be good for him if he tries piloting his lion in that state. For now until their mission to establish peace throughout the galaxy was complete, the paladins only had each other to remind one another of home on Earth.

She considered wrapping her arms around him or giving him a kiss that would surely clear his mind, but none of those options seemed appropriate for this time. She needed something to ease his homesickness, something she could provide more than once with assurance that there would be long-term results. He didn't need comfort from his girlfriend but from someone who clearly understood what he was feeling.

"... Take off your jacket and lie on your back." As she expected, he only reacted to her strange request by giving her a confused look. She sighed and placed her hands on his shoulders. Slowly she removed his jacket for him, setting it to the side, before she guided him down to lie completely on his bed. "Don't worry, I'll be right back with some things from my own room. Just don't move."

He gave her a silent nod and that was the sign for her to exit his room and leave him wondering what she was up to this time. Within minutes she was back from hers, this time with her opened laptop, her headphones, and a cord in her hands. He watched her set up her laptop near his head and hook it up to her headphones with the cord - an aux cord, he figured out. From the corner of his eye he could see the glowing screen but couldn't make out what she was typing.

"And... there, done!"

"What's done?" he asked.

She looked at him, flashing a small reassuring smile. "You'll see."

Pidge slipped her headphones over his ears and for a moment the world around him was muffled of sound. Even the tacking of her fingers against the keyboard sounded distant, as if everything was underwater. He heard her press one more key and watched her sit at the edge of the bed with anticipation.

A single strum echoed into his ears and through his head, followed by another at a different note. More continued to come after until a proper melody was formed. His breath hitched.

_She actually had a playlist of Spanish guitar instrumentals on her laptop._ Out of all the times he's borrowed her headphones, how could he have missed that? Nonetheless, he started to relax and breathed deeply in time to the rise and fall of the slow song the guitar was playing.

He closed his eyes and let the music have him tap into his memories. He wondered if he kept his eyes closed long enough before opening them, he'd discover that everything about Voltron was just a dream. Maybe he'd wake up in his old bed to the smell of his mother's cooking while his father was playing the family guitar to his younger siblings in the living room. Then, after breakfast, Lance and all of his siblings could go out in the front yard to play games until lunch, just like any other average morning for the McClain family.

It didn't occur to him that he was crying until he opened his eyes again. Pidge was using the sleeve of her sweater to wipe away stray tears before they passed his temples. Her free hand, meanwhile, was raking her fingers through his bangs; had he kept his eyes closed longer, he would've thought his mother was doing that instead of his girlfriend. He couldn't hear it, but he knew she was trying to hush his now quickly heaving chest as he tried to push back the past.

When it seemed that the tears wouldn't stop coming, she let out a sigh and opened up one side of her headphones so her voice could be heard. "Sometimes I'd listen to Spanish guitar whenever I was having trouble concentrating on homework," she admitted, still stroking his hair. "You can listen to this any time you want. Heck, if you want to keep my headphones, go ahead. I'll show you how to access the music settings and-"

To her shock, Lance pulled her down until she was lying on top of him, an ear pressed against his chest. She could make out his heartbeat and how hard it was pounding - whether from thinking about home or about what she's done for him, she wasn't sure of. She was sure, though, that her plan had worked, as he was starting to calm down again until he was left sniffling.

Although she had let go of her headphone, it ended up slipping back into place over his ear. She heard him mutter a very soft "Thank you", with more sniffles after that, meaning he wasn't sure if she heard him or not. She confirmed she got the message by taking his jacket and covering both of them with it.

"... Hey, Katie?"

Hearing her actual name didn't stun her as much anymore, especially considering it was Lance saying it. "Yeah?"

She looked up at him to see him use one hand to open up one side, just as she was doing so before. "It's your turn. What would you want to have from Earth right now?" Having foreseen that coming, she didn't answer at first, preferring to focus on tracing circles on his shirt with her fingers.

"... Your family's guitar."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: It took me five minutes to figure out what Lance's bedroom was like just so I can assure myself that Pidge's laptop won't fall off the bed.


End file.
